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Caribbean PM assaulted her: Toronto lawyer

A Toronto human rights lawyer has charged the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with sexually assaulting her during a meeting in his island mansion.

By Brett PopplewellStaff Reporter

Sat., May 31, 2008

A Toronto human rights lawyer has charged the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with sexually assaulting her during a meeting in his island mansion.

In February of this year, Margaret Parsons, executive director of the African Canadian Legal Clinic in Toronto, filed a complaint in the Magistrates Court alleging that Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, 61, attacked her during a private meeting back in January 2003.

"She has been brave to come forward," said Parsons' lawyer, Nicole Sylvester, in a phone interview from the Caribbean archipelago, adding Parsons had been empowered by speaking of the incident.

Allegations made by Parsons, 48, have added to the scandal surrounding the already embattled Gonsalves, who is fending off similar charges from four other women.

Sylvester said the addition of a human rights lawyer to the list of women accusing Gonsalves of sexual misconduct has divided the country.

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"The matter has been totally politicized," Sylvester said.

In her complaint, Parsons, who was born in Trinidad but moved to Canada at a young age, says she was in the prime minister's office discussing constitutional reform when he began groping her, ripped her blouse and tried to have sex with her on his office couch.

She says she managed to flee Gonsalves' grasp but was so shaken by the incident that she knew not where to turn.

Repeated attempts by the Star to speak with Parsons at her office in Toronto failed. Staff there said they were aware of the allegations but refused to comment on the case.

But in a telephone interview with the Los Angeles Times, Parsons described the incident at length.

"I remember coming out of the building with my heart pumping. I was enraged. I couldn't believe this happened to me," she said. "I didn't know who would listen to me."

In that interview, Parsons said she suffered in silence for five years but decided to come forward with her allegations after one of the prime minister's female security guards accused him of a sexual assault.

That assault is alleged to have occurred January 3, 2008 while the guard was on foot patrol at the prime minister's mansion.

The prime minister has categorically denied all the accusations of sexual assault brought against him.

Colin Williams, director of public prosecutions (equivalent to attorney general) for the former British colony, has officially discontinued any inquiry into the allegations without allowing the case to be heard before a court.

"This is a prime minister, for Pete's sake!" Parsons told the Los Angeles Times about Williams' decision. "He can't continue to act with impunity in such egregious acts. We're not talking about a parking ticket or a traffic violation; we're talking about the violation of women's bodies."

Williams has told reporters that Parsons' allegations are unsubstantiated by physical evidence and has gone on record as saying she cannot be trusted because "she's a human rights lawyer," a claim Sylvester says is deeply disturbing.

"This is the most preposterous, outrageous, unfounded statement to make and it's an affront to the very good work that human rights lawyers do all over the world," she said.

Steve Phillips, consulate general for St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Toronto, said he was aware of Parsons' allegations but didn't want to comment.

"I cannot speak authoritatively on the matter because these are just allegations," he said.

For his part, Gonsalves has cleared himself of any wrongdoing with regards to the alleged sexual assaults of his security guard.

"This is an attempt to damage me politically and to discredit me in the eyes of the people," Gonsalves told reporters in February.

Though Gonsalves has not publicly addressed Parsons' allegations, a lawyer on his behalf has deemed her claims "criminal libel" and has demanded an apology.

The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court – a regional supreme court for small Caribbean states – is currently reviewing Williams' decision to discontinue all proceedings on the sexual assault allegations.

Regardless of that court's decision, Parsons and the four other women have the option to take their cases to the London Privy Council, which remains St. Vincent and the Grenadines' highest court.

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